By James Tremain

Don’t read this article if your favourite film has Liam Neeson in it, has anything to do with Michael Bay, or if you only go to the cinema on Wednesdays: you will not bother going to this cinema.

If you’re one of the seemingly rare breed of people who can stomach subtitles and value good cinema at more than £3 a ticket, please read on: you’ll love the Ritzy.

Part of the Picturehouse chain, the Ritzy is dedicated to showing films that you may not find elsewhere.

On the day that I went, the cinema was showing family-friendly ‘Wreck it Ralph’, blockbusters ‘Django Unchained’ and ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’, Best Film Oscar winner ‘Argo’ and lesser-known arthouse films such as ‘To the Wonder’ and ‘No’.

Such eclecticism reflects the area’s audience. Brixton is a multi-cultural South London haven, and its growing popularity amongst the city’s trendy twenty-somethings have seen the rise of popular local pubs like the Dogstar and Hootenanny.

The result of this is a huge selection and very little excuse for missing out on something you want to see.

Even the Ritzy itself has a sizeable bar attached – it’s the kind of cinema that trusts its customers to sip on their favourite tipple responsibly, to eat their popcorn instead of throwing it at the guy-with-glasses’ head (invariably me).

Sophisticated viewing

Staff are friendly in a way rarely experienced in a cinema. Knowledgeable and genuinely concerned with your happiness rather than suffering enough work to afford acne cream as usual. It’s a pleasant environment to catch a film.

For the one downside I refer you to my opening gambit – it’s not cheap. Expect to pay £10 and up for a single ticket.

But it’s likely you’re a fan of cinema as a concept and this shouldn’t put you off – screens are comfortable and sizeable and it’s almost guaranteed your fellow movie-watchers will respect what’s playing out in front of them.

Impress your date by going to that quirky French film (pretend you didn’t need the subtitles); catch the latest documentary on how much we’re all killing the planet and how many horses we’ve all eaten in the last year; indulge and watch that Michael Bay piece-of-shit horror remake without a thousand chavs laughing off their feeble terror: the Ritzy comes highly recommended to those willing to spend a few more pounds on a complete cinema experience.